Garden cart



F 8, 1949- w. S'TELZER ET AL 2,461,353

GARDEN CART Filed Feb. 10. 1947 Patented Feb. 8, 1949 GARDEN CARS.

William Stelzer and ,Madelon J. Stelzer,

Summit,N. J.

Application February 10, 1947,8erial No. 727,628

6 Claims. 1

The invention relates to garden carts and more particularly to acombination garden cart, hand truck. lawn roller, sled, and snow scoop.It is related to the invention disclosed in the co-pending applicationof William Stelzer, Serial No. 569,508, filed. December 23, 1944, nowPatent No. 2,433,246, issued December 23, 1947.

The object of this invention is to provide a novel-hand truck or gardencart with a receptacle having sides suitable for carrying boxes or otherobjects in the fashion of ahand truck.

Another object is to provide a pivoted removable-frame or-gate toincrease the carrying capacity of 'the receptacle for bulky material.

A further object is to providea lawn roller instead ofwhe'els toincrease the usefulness of the cartior garden purposes. The aim to makethe roller. readily removable so that the cart can quickly be changedinto a scoop for snow'removal or other uses, and to provide means sothat the roller can be shifted into another position during operation ofthe cart.

A further object is to eliminate the conventional "legs as used on wheelbarrows and carts and to provide a tray having a low belly adaptedtorest on or skid over the ground. In addition to a low center ofgravity and consequent greater stability the advantages thereby attainedare a sleek construction which facilitates passage over obstacles whichwith present conveyances would not be negotiable.

The invention also aims to provide other novel features to produce acart of simplified and cheaper construction that can be changed for thedifferent purposes without the used tools and with a minimum of effort.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing description considered in connection with the accompanyingdrawing submittedfor the purpose of illustration and'not to define thescope of the invention, reference being had for that purpose to thesubjoined claims. In the drawing, wherein similar reference charactersrefer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the novel cart;

Fig. 2, a perspective view of the roller and its supporting structure;

Fig. 3, an enlarged fragmentary view of the I bearing and the supportingstructure, the bearing and journal being shown in section;

Fig. 4, a perspective view of the cart where roller is removed and aframe is added; and

Fig. 5, a, perspective view of the frame alone. Before explaining thepresent invention in dethe tail, it isto be understood not limited inits application to.:the details of construction and arrangement of partsillustrated inthe accompanying. drawing, since the :invention is capableof otherembodiments andofabeing;

practised or carried out invariousways. Also it is to be understood thatthe:phraseologyor'tera minology' employed herein isv for the purpose-ofdescription andxnot limitation. I I

In the preferred embodiment-the cart com-1 prises a receptacle or :tray1 :towhose sides isattached .a handle 2 bymeans of rivets, or'boltsi;

The sides of the tray have :reinforced;edges. 4

continuing the contour ofthe handleandextend-;. ing forwardly atStoserveas a carrying member similar in function to the 'toe plate of ahand truck.. Holes linreceive the ends I of resilient arms8 whichhaveone end weldedor otherwise secured to the-legs 9 of a crossmemberlflpro vided with a rubber cushion II to prevent telephoning sound fromthe roller structureto the a tray. The lower extremeties of the legs 9rest in a hole in bearings I'll-and are secured to it/by a pin or othersuitable means 13. These'bearingsserve to support the trunnions or'journals l5--of roller 16. transmitted I to the roller through 'thelower ends of legs Wand through arms B-atl'l;wh'ereby acertain degreeofself-alignment of the bearingsis' obtained, especially since some playlsprovided in the hole in'which legs 9-rest. Thesupporting members 8and9 are'preferably made ofmetal rods having a certain'amount ofresiliency'so that assembly and removal of the supporting structure fromthe tray can be accomplishedbypulling arms 8 apart. As the roller 16is'attached to the tray merely through ends 1, it is free to swing aboutpivot holes 6' between the position shown and the extreme positionindicated-by dotted line 18. r In order to increase the carryingcapacityof the cart for bulky material I provide a gate "or frame Is as shownin- Fig. 5. It has trunn'ions 20 extending laterally to engage holesllas shownin- Fig. 4, whereby the frame'may be lifted it up against handle2. This scoop lendsitseli.

:that the invention is:

Thus'the load of the receptacleis 3 ideally to convey loads by skiddingover wet or muddy ground or over snow. When using it to make a paththrough snow, it is pushed, and the snow dumped to the side after thetray is filled up.

When considering the construction as shown in Fig. 1 the positionillustrated relative to the ground line 23 would be assumed when thecart is being pushed or pulled. In a loading position the cart may be.tilted rearwardly so that the ground line would-be tangent with theroller and the curved rearward portion of the receptacle, or it may betilted forwardly so that the forward lip rests on the ground. The latterposition is suitable for sweeping material into the cart, or in using itin the fashion of a hand truck;

While the garden cart in any of its transformations can be eitherpushed: or mined whereby it may travel forward or backwards, in order tosimplify the terms of the claims the forward lip of the receptacle shallbe considered the front of the vehicle and the handle at the rear.

' Having thusdescribed our invention, we claim: 1. A hand truck having ascoop shaped receptacle, handle means secured thereto, said receptaclehaving a belly at its rearward portion and being open at its forwardend, a roller arranged underneath said receptacle and forward of saidbelly, and means for revolubly supporting said roller, said latter meansbeing pivoted to said receptacle aft of the axis of said roller andhaving a member to butt against the underside of said receptacle to keepsaid roller distanced from said receptacle. 1 2. A hand truck having ascoop shaped receptacle, handle means secured thereto, said receptaclehaving a belly at its rearward portion and being open atv its forwardend, a roller arranged underneath said receptacle and forward of saidbelly, armspivotally secured to said receptacle aft of the axis of saidroller, means secured to said arms for revolubly supporting said roller,members to transmit the load from said receptacle to said roller, andcushioning means between said members and said receptacle to prevent thetransmission of road noise to said receptacle.

3. A hand truck having a scoop shaped receptacle, a handle securedthereto, a roller arranged under the middle portion of said receptacle,and roller supporting means to revolubly support said roller, saidroller supporting means having rearwardly extending resilient members,the ends of said members being pivoted to said receptacle, said membersbeing constructed toyieldingly tend to remain in engagement with saidreceptacle to facilitate the easy removal of the roller and rollersupporting means, the latter having a cushioned stop to preventthe'roller from touching the underside of the middle portion of saidreceptacle but permitting the roller and roller supporting means toswing about the pivots to a rearward position where said roller maycontact the rearward portion of said receptacle. v

4. A garden cart having a scoop shaped receptacle, a handle securedthereto, a lawn roller arranged under the middle portion of saidreceptacle, means pivotally secured to said receptacle to revolublysupport said lawn roller, the pivotal axis being aft of the axis of saidlawn roller and parallel thereto, and a removable frame pivotallysecured to said receptacle at the rearward portion thereof to increasethe carryin capacity of said receptacle.

5. A garden cart having a scoop shaped receptacle, a handle securedthereto, a lawn roller arranged under the middle portion of saidreceptacle, means pivotally secured to said receptacle to revolublysupport said lawn roller, the pivotal axis being aft of the axis of saidlawn roller and parallel thereto, cushioned means to space said lawnroller from the underside of said receptacle, a frame pivotally andremovably secured to said receptacle, the pivot points of said framebeing at the rear portionof said receptacle, and handle means on saidframe to facilitate lifting it up prior to dumping of said receptacle.

6. A combination garden cart, hand truck, lawn roller, scoop, and sled,comprising a scoop shaped receptacle having an open forward lip,parallel side walls and a curved bottom bent upwardly at the rear toform a belly, handle means extending upwardly and rearwardly from saidreceptacle, each of said side walls having a reinforced rim extending inalignment with said handle means in the rear and extending fore and aftin the front to provide the general characteristics of a hand truck, aroller to serve as a lawn roller arranged underneath the bottom of saidreceptacle a spaced distance therefrom, a supporting structure havinbearings to rotatably support said roller, resilient arms extendingrearwardly from said supporting structure and removably and pivotallysecured to said receptacle so that said roller may swing about thepivots from the usual spaced distance underneath said receptacle to arearward position where the roller rests, against the rear portion ofsaid receptacle, a frame comprising two sides and a front wall to extendthe sides of saidreceptacle and to increase the carrying capacity,pivots at the rear end of said frame sides to pivot said frame to saidreceptacle at the rearward portion of the latter, means to facilitateeasy, removal Of said frame from said receptacle, and handle meansattached to said frame to facilitate lifting up the latter when dumpingsaid receptacle.

WILLIAM STELZER. MADELON J. STELZER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of a record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

